State DCF head confident in department during visit to Framingham

Saturday

Mar 8, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Scott O'ConnellDaily News Staff

FRAMINGHAM - Olga Roche had a straightforward response on Friday to whether there are currently any unaccounted for children under the Department of Children and Families: "No."The beleaguered commissioner, on a visit to the agency's Framingham office, also assured there is evidence the department has made progress toward its goal of ensuring there won't be any in the future, either. From hiring new social workers to help reduce caseloads to giving staff new technology to help them better do their job, Roche said her goal is to "strengthen the safety net so there is no case like Jeremiah (Oliver) in this department ever again."The disappearance of the 5-year-old Fitchburg boy last September tipped off a firestorm of criticism of the DCF that led to the firing of the staff who handled his case as well as calls for Roche herself to step down. Roche admitted the tumult over the past few months has been tough - "It is difficult when the focus is on one individual and not the complex issues we're dealing with," she said - but expressed confidence in her department's 3,000 employees."The actions of a few aren't reflective of the vast majority" who are committed to the tens of thousands of children and families the agency deals with daily, she said.Since January, DCF has hired 70 more workers and thanks to a $9.2 million commitment from Gov. Deval Patrick's administration for fiscal 2015, has plans to hire 177 more, Roche said. The DCF is also distributing new tablet computers to staff that are intended to help them do their work while they're out on the road and at their homes.Roche said the department has a memorandum of understanding with its social workers to reduce caseloads, which are upwards of 18 cases per employee in some offices, to a more manageable 15 cases, which she believes "will allow workers to get more time with families and have more effective interventions."The agency's efforts have yielded promising returns so far, DCF officials report. By the end of 2013, for instance, the percentage of children seen by staff in a month had jumped from 82.5 percent to 94.6 percent between November and December, according to the department.Roche attributed some of that gain to staff committing to filing reports on time, saying that in the past some social workers might not have been credited with the contact they made with kids because it wasn't documented. Alyssa Balboni, a social worker who has worked out of DCF's Framingham office for nine years, admitted it's hard especially for employees with large caseloads to find time to get to a computer.In MetroWest, Balboni said most of those cases involve families struggling with substance abuse, domestic violence, or mental illness."We deal with complex families - our workers are working hard to ensure the children under our supervision are all accounted for," Roche said.The commissioner also asserted missing kids are not the same as runaways, which the DCF had 129 of as of Monday."We know who the children are on the run," Roche said, adding many of those kids, who are typically older teenagers, will even stay in communication with their case worker while they're away from home."They'll email their social worker, they'll try to get in touch over social media - it's a huge misconception that the kids just take off and we don't hear from them," Balboni said.On the other main controversy dogging her department, the case of Justina Pelletier, Roche said the DCF "is very committed" to seeking a resolution. She and other DCF officials wouldn't discuss specifics of the case, but a statement from the department said it "has been working with the juvenile court and communicating with Connecticut child welfare officials to identify appropriate services for Justina and her family in Connecticut" so that the 15-year-old, who has been kept in state facilities, including most recently in Framingham, over the past year, can be returned to her parents.Patrick, meanwhile, has stood by Roche, and rejected appeals for her dismissal. But the governor has also appointed one of his cabinet members to provide "support and assistance" to the agency over the next couple months, according to Daily News media partner WCVB Channel 5, and has ordered an independent review of the department as well.Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottOConnellMW

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